NASHVILLE - The Trevecca Nazarene University women's basketball (1-0) followed up their 2-0 exhibition performance with a win in their regular season opener, a 70-55 win over Southwest Baptist University in the opener of the 2023 Jack "Pops" Duncan Classic (PDC) at Trojan Fieldhouse on Friday.
2023 Pops Duncan Classic Home Page
Trevecca beat the Bearcats for the first time and are now 1-1 vs. SBU. Trevecca is 17-14 in the Pops Duncan Classic. SBU is 1-2 in the PDC.
BREAKING IT DOWN
Trevecca opened with a 4-2 lead, but Southwest Baptist rolled back taking a 7-4 lead. Trevecca responded with a 9-2 run and built a four point (13-9) lead with 1:02 left in the first and led 15-12 through the first ten minutes.
With Trevecca leading 24-23 at the 4:34 mark of the second quarter, the Trojans went on a run to close the quarter. TNU scored seven straight to take and eight point (31-23) lead and eventually led by nine (34-25) before heading to the half up six (34-28).
The Bearcats came out of the half on fire and closed the Trojan lead to two (34-32) by scoring the first four points of the third quarter. TNU pushed the lead back to nine a couple of times.
Carden Vailes hit one of her five three-pointers with 6:29 to go in the quarter, to put the Trojans up nine (44-35). The Bearcats roared again, scoring eight straight to pull to within one (44-43) with 1:06 left in the quarter. Trevecca eased the lead back to five by the time the third quarter expired.
Trevecca continued to push their lead and extended it to 12 (57-45) with 8:16 left in the game. That capped a 13-2 run. Trevecca eventually led by as many as 17 (65-48) and salted the game away with a 15-point win.
KEY PLAYERS
Keeley Carter and
Carden Vailes led the Trojans with 17 points each. For Carter, the total is one off her season average last season. Carter was 8-8 at the line and grabbed six rebounds, dished out four assists, and had a steal and a block assist.
Carden Vailes scored 17 on 5-5 shooting from three.
Kor Fornesa Liu led the team with ten rebounds and had two assists. Konner Gambrell scored eight and had nine rebounds.
TEAM TIME
The Trojans shot 42.3 (22-52) from the field, 47.4% (9-19) from three-point range, and 65.4% (17-26) from the foul line. The Purple and White won the rebounding (44-34), fast break points (15-8), bench scoring (39-33), and second chance scoring (9-6).
UP NEXT
Trevecca faces another Great Lakes Valley Conference, Drury University, in the 2023 Jack "Pops" Duncan Classic (Midwest Region Crossover) on Saturday at 6:00 PM at the Trojan Fieldhouse.
Next, Trevecca plays three consecutive games against future Gulf South Conference foes. Not only are they GSC members, but two of the three are predicted to finish 1-2 in the league. TNU visits the University of Alabama Huntsville on Wednesday (Nov. 15) at 6:00 PM. The Chargers are picked to finish eighth this year. TNU finishes the week at Lee University on Saturday (Nov. 18) when they visit the Flames at 1:00 PM. Lee is picked second after tying with Union for the regular season title last year. They advanced to the GSC Championship game, falling the Union. But they advanced to the NCAA South Region where they advanced to the semifinals.
The next home game at Trojan Fieldhouse brings Union University to the Music City. The Bulldogs, picked to win the league, won the GSC Championship last year and advanced to the NCAA South Region semifinals. Both Lee and Union are former conference foes of the Trojans in the old TranSouth Athletic Conference.
MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS
Visit the Official Home of Trevecca Athletics at
www.tnutrojans.com |
www.trevecca.edu
Click for
Live Video of home games.
Follow on Social Media -
Twitter |
Instagram |
Facebook |
YouTube |
Free Newsletter
